Posted on 09/21/2009 12:48:01 PM PDT by Jet Jaguar
Students living in northern Mexico have skirted residency requirements to attend U.S. public schools for generations, but when the superintendent in one Texas border town got word that about 400 school-age children were crossing the international bridge each day with backpacks but no student visas, he figured he had to do something.
The community is connected by a bridge to Ciudad Acuna, Mexico, and like most border cities, the towns operate in tandem, with U.S. citizens and green cardholders living, working and shopping on both sides. All of it is legal, but public school attendance by children living in Mexico is another issue.
"We had several van loads (with Mexican license plates) pulling up at the schools and kids getting out. It's like 'C'mon, it's obvious what's going on,'" said Kelt Cooper, superintendent of the San Felipe Del Rio Consolidated Independent School District.
He directed district officials to stake out the bridge and warn students they could face expulsion if they don't prove they live in the district—a move that's brought complaints from civil rights groups and support from anti-immigrant proponents.
"We have a law. We have a policy. We follow it," said Cooper, whose spent most of his life near the border and is uncomfortable with attempts to make him a cause celebre for either side of the immigration debate. "I'm just doing my job."
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
Nah, they’re gonna just make all of them legal. Problem fixed.
.
His brothers' names are Mark, Kirk and Shaun. I suspect it's a phonetic variant of "Celt".
Senor, I have my Buy Ten Get One Free Card from Taco Depot....will you accept that?
I have a graph of our property taxes, county taxes, and school taxes. Guess which one keeps going up?
... Ken -- a poor unemployed guy in Plano.
I don't live down there but payment maybe the issue. For sure it will mean a loss of operating revenue to the ISD from State funding.
Here's some info from an article on Sept 10, 2009.
Del Rio News Hearld
snip
But on Wednesday morning, district officials were at the port that separates Del Rio from its sister city, Ciudad Acuña, Coah., Mex., with a message for parents.
“Your child was observed crossing into the United States from Mexico to attend school…Your child will be withdrawn from the school district immediately,” reads a letter handed from district officials to parents at the port Wednesday morning.
The letter directs parents to the district's Office of Pupil Services to provide proof of residence in the United States.
Superintendent Kelt Cooper said the move came after the district received a report that more than 540 school age children were recorded crossing into the U.S.
“When we have vans with Coahuila license plates dropping kids off at elementary schools and a report that says hundreds of kids are coming across…we have a problem,” says Cooper. “With these kinds of numbers, it was out of control…it was right in our face.”
Under state law, the only students allowed a free public education in the San Felipe Del Rio Consolidated Independent School District are those who reside within it, and Cooper says it’s his job to enforce that law.
“I am commanded by the laws of this state and the policies of this district,” said Cooper. “I also have a duty to our taxpayers.”
But the loss of students also means a loss of revenue for the district, which receives state funding based on student enrollment and attendance.
“Is this going to hurt my budget? It's a $2.7 million loss, of course it's going to hurt,” said Cooper. “But the fact is, that wasn't our money to begin with.”
Children crossing the Rio Grande to attend school is nothing new and is something Cooper, who was born, raised and spent most of his career in border communities, has seen before.
In 2002 Cooper, then the superintendent of the Nogales school district in Arizona, was part of an initiative in that state to weed Mexico residents out of its school systems.
“This has been going on for decades,” said Cooper. “It's a game of cat-and- mouse and it's not specific to Del Rio.”
Cooper says he's seen families go to great lengths to get their children into schools.
“Parents will come over and establish residences for a month before school starts. They rent a house or apartment, get utilities in their name and register their children for school. Then a month later they're back in Mexico,” says Cooper, adding that the issue has nothing to do with immigration status, citing a 1982 Supreme Court case that prohibits districts from even asking that question.end snip
Want to bet if there any schools on the Mexican side?
Don’t mess with Texas.
Still happening here in Nogales, Douglas, Agua Prieta, Sonoyta, Palominas, Yuma - you name it, if it’s an Arizona border school district, we’re teaching illegals.
Wow! He gets it! Claiming illegal students as legitimate residents which resulted in $2.7 million dollars from the state of Texas (Taxpayer funds) that they weren't entitled to. Will it cost them some money? Yes. But, don't worry...without that money, Del Rio will probably just get more of the Robin Hood money now. I wonder if someone will ever figure out that that money isn't theirs to begin with either!
Racist!
Someone move the fence?
:)
Ummm....that was my example of a Mexican town from which the students come.
Yeah, that’s the ticket.
That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.
“On the border, it’s not such a big deal. “
Illegal is illegal...something these children should be being taught!
Excuse me? Anti-immigrant? didn't they forget the ILLEGAL part? I'm sick and tired of this. I hope we all write to this writer and set him straight. There are only 2 reasons to use the wrong phrase here. Either he's an ignorant person who hasn't bothered to check out his facts, or he has an agenda biased toward illegal immigration. Either way, he's not a reporter.
There is a more important point to this than all of you are noticing. What I find truly amazing is that Mexico’s public education is so poor that students from their would prefer to go to public schools in the U.S. :-) Is that really an improvement?
Your assuming the kids don't speak English. My experience with this, which is hands on, is that the vast majority do speak English!
They are US Citizens and Legal Permanent Residents!
Actually the translation of the phrase as posted would be "How does Kelt Cooper call himself" (assuming the "es" was supposed to be "se" -- the "es" verb form doesn't make any sense at all in the context)
"Who calls Kelt Cooper" would be "Quien llama Kelt Cooper"
I pointed out, the kids in this story could be anchor babies. If they are children, they can only be legal permanent residents if their parents are. In which case, why are they living in Cd. Acuna? Regardless of their legal status, if they are not residing in the school district, they are not eligible to attend school in Del Rio.
Bump
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